Average Human Costs for Degrees

[ss20ts]

I am going to throw a curve ball out here.  Does anyone know how CCP (college credit plus) or AP factors in here?   I’m hoping my son will have at least a few of these before he graduates High School.  I’m hoping to get him set to accelerate through college, if he chooses to do so.  If we pay for a private High School, I want to reduce how much we pay for college.

What's College Credit Plus? Never heard of it. Might be state specific?

AP isn't cheap. In many schools, you pay a fee to take the class and then the exam fees. My husband didn't have the money in high school to take all of the AP exams for the AP courses he took. He looks back now and knows he would have wasted money on many of them because you need a 4 or 5 to get college credit at the college he went to. It wasn't worth all the time he put into them.

If you want to reduce college payments, then look at a degree on the ACE path. Remember though all majors aren't available at school that accept ACE credit. And all schools don't accept ACE credit. He needs to figure out some of this on his own, too. He's the one who has to do the work. Many kids fresh out of high school just aren't ready for college.

My sister graduated from a 4 year school a semester early. She had a few AP courses that they accepted. She changed majors her junior year. She took an extra class every semester to save money. She also worked 3 part time jobs and had her own apartment. If you're willing to work yourself to the breaking point, you can do just about anything. She looks back now and knows why her mental health and physical health suffered immensely for years afterward.

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Great job gathering this information for comparison. Looking at the spreadsheet, I was wondering why you estimate Brandmans MyPath expenditure at 6400$? On their site it states a price of 3200$ for 6 months of access. Are you assuming it takes 12 months to finish approximately 30 credits? This sounds like a fairly slow pace. Or is there some rule that states you need to enroll for at least two terms?

You don't have to be there for 2 terms, but the reality is for many people it takes that long or longer. 30 credits in 12 months is basically what you do as a full time college student. It's not a slow pace. Remember, people have lives, families, work, etc. Brandman is also a lot of papers. It's not like Sophia where you can complete a class in less than a day.

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I don’t think the *average* person can do it in one term.  A lot of people aren’t able to focus as much time due to job and family commitments. (Like myself).

You might be correct, but I am referring to consistency in regard to the estimates. For instance, UMPI(slow pace) is estimated to take just 3 terms of 8 weeks. That is the equivalent time frame. So why does it take twice the amount of time to finish 30 credits at Brandman?

There's more writing at Brandman. The Final Assessments are longer.

[dfrecore]

I am going to throw a curve ball out here.  Does anyone know how CCP (college credit plus) or AP factors in here?   I’m hoping my son will have at least a few of these before he graduates High School.  I’m hoping to get him set to becaccelerate through college, if he chooses to do so.  If we pay for a private High School, I want to reduce how much we pay for college.

From what I've heard, AP can actually INCREASE costs significantly over other ACE sources. Students are encouraged to take each AP exam multiple times in order to get a good score. This can be hundreds of dollars for each AP course that is taken and passed. Plus all of the misc. study guides and whatnot that aren't "required" but that you really should get/use if you want to pass. A basic CC course can actually be much more affordable than an AP exam.

I've not heard this, and I've known dozens of kids who have AP credit.  I don't know a single one who every retook an exam, even after failing one - since you can only take them once a year, you usually have other ones to take the following year, all schools don't offer all of them each year, etc.  Nobody thinks that you are going to get a better score NEXT year when the material isn't fresh.  Someone who is taking 2-6 AP courses in a year does not have time to study for LAST year's XYZ exam this year.  They are studying like crazy for THIS year's exams.

Now, SAT/ACT, yes, those are retaken (sometimes a LOT) - but not AP.

[Vle045]

I am going to throw a curve ball out here.  Does anyone know how CCP (college credit plus) or AP factors in here?   I’m hoping my son will have at least a few of these before he graduates High School.  I’m hoping to get him set to accelerate through college, if he chooses to do so.  If we pay for a private High School, I want to reduce how much we pay for college.

What's College Credit Plus? Never heard of it. Might be state specific?

AP isn't cheap. In many schools, you pay a fee to take the class and then the exam fees. My husband didn't have the money in high school to take all of the AP exams for the AP courses he took. He looks back now and knows he would have wasted money on many of them because you need a 4 or 5 to get college credit at the college he went to. It wasn't worth all the time he put into them.

If you want to reduce college payments, then look at a degree on the ACE path. Remember though all majors aren't available at school that accept ACE credit. And all schools don't accept ACE credit. He needs to figure out some of this on his own, too. He's the one who has to do the work. Many kids fresh out of high school just aren't ready for college.

My sister graduated from a 4 year school a semester early. She had a few AP courses that they accepted. She changed majors her junior year. She took an extra class every semester to save money. She also worked 3 part time jobs and had her own apartment. If you're willing to work yourself to the breaking point, you can do just about anything. She looks back now and knows why her mental health and physical health suffered immensely for years afterward.

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Yeah, I think it is Ohio specific. (sorry).  It’s a great program in theory.  But I don’t know if all colleges accept the credits.  Although I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t, for the most part.  Basically, kids in grades 7-12 can take classes at Ohio public universities for no cost.  It’s dual credit.  So you can take History, Math, etc.  You only pay if you get a D or F.  And you are expected to do the college level work.

[ss20ts]

Yeah, I think it is Ohio specific. (sorry).  It’s a great program in theory.  But I don’t know if all colleges accept the credits.  Although I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t, for the most part.  Basically, kids in grades 7-12 can take classes at Ohio public universities for no cost.  It’s dual credit.  So you can take History, Math, etc.  You only pay if you get a D or F.  And you are expected to do the college level work.

Interesting! Do they receive the colleges courses on a transcript from the college? If they do, then they could use them anywhere and not be restricted to Ohio.

[ylmir]

Yeah, I think it is Ohio specific. (sorry).  It’s a great program in theory.  But I don’t know if all colleges accept the credits.  Although I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t, for the most part.  Basically, kids in grades 7-12 can take classes at Ohio public universities for no cost.  It’s dual credit.  So you can take History, Math, etc.  You only pay if you get a D or F.  And you are expected to do the college level work.

Hi Vle! What a coincidence, I happen to have gotten into this whole degree acceleration thing due to some of my own experiences with the program when it first started. From my experience, colleges have become a lot more knowledgeable about programs like this one just in the past few years, as it has exploded in popularity.

For those wondering, College Credit Plus is a dual-enrollment program funded by the State of Ohio where any 7-12 grade student can go through a process (often helped along by high school staff and program advisors) to enroll in any Ohio public university or a number or private universities for little to no cost (no cost for students at publicly-funded schools, potentially some cost for students at private schools).

Anyhow, it is a really good program, and I have seen that they have improved it the last few years since I have been out. The credits are (must be) placed on a college transcript, and that transcript itself will not say that your student was a high school student taking the course, if the college is following proper procedures. You meet the regular requirements for admissions, then you are officially a student there like anyone else. Because of that, colleges should accept it like they accept any other credit from a regionally-accredited institution. That is the requirement in Ohio, and combined with Ohio's credit transfer rules, your son should have no problem transferring all the credits to another public school in Ohio. There are some more elite schools outside the state who look down on these programs, and will not accept any credits taken while "dual-enrolled," but they are very much in the minority.

A few suggestions, though, to be sure it works out for you guys. While I was in the program, my school really pushed for some classes they started offering in the high school under a few teachers who are credentialed to teach at community college. I never took those, and I would not recommend it for the most part, as there are other schools outside the state who specifically do not accept those classes taken under a high school teacher for college credit.  Also, if he has any idea what he would like to do, it might be good at some point in the program to gain admission and start taking classes at a college he would potentially want to finish at after high school. They will transfer more readily that way, and you might even get to have some classes in the major. He can take any class he is eligible for (my original school said we needed to take things that fit into the high school curriculum, but this is specifically not allowed anymore statewide). If I had known that then, I would have definitely taken some more specialized courses that I could not CLEP, and fewer classes that ended up being "gen-eds" which do not apply to my more specialized major now.

Anyway, if you have any more questions, feel free to shoot me a message, but, to sum up, you should be quite alright transferring CCP credits as long as he takes them at a reputable college/university.

[Vle045]

Yeah, I think it is Ohio specific. (sorry).  It’s a great program in theory.  But I don’t know if all colleges accept the credits.  Although I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t, for the most part.  Basically, kids in grades 7-12 can take classes at Ohio public universities for no cost.  It’s dual credit.  So you can take History, Math, etc.  You only pay if you get a D or F.  And you are expected to do the college level work.

Hi Vle! What a coincidence, I happen to have gotten into this whole degree acceleration thing due to some of my own experiences with the program when it first started. From my experience, colleges have become a lot more knowledgeable about programs like this one just in the past few years, as it has exploded in popularity.

For those wondering, College Credit Plus is a dual-enrollment program funded by the State of Ohio where any 7-12 grade student can go through a process (often helped along by high school staff and program advisors) to enroll in any Ohio public university or a number or private universities for little to no cost (no cost for students at publicly-funded schools, potentially some cost for students at private schools).

Anyhow, it is a really good program, and I have seen that they have improved it the last few years since I have been out. The credits are (must be) placed on a college transcript, and that transcript itself will not say that your student was a high school student taking the course, if the college is following proper procedures. You meet the regular requirements for admissions, then you are officially a student there like anyone else. Because of that, colleges should accept it like they accept any other credit from a regionally-accredited institution. That is the requirement in Ohio, and combined with Ohio's credit transfer rules, your son should have no problem transferring all the credits to another public school in Ohio. There are some more elite schools outside the state who look down on these programs, and will not accept any credits taken while "dual-enrolled," but they are very much in the minority.

A few suggestions, though, to be sure it works out for you guys. While I was in the program, my school really pushed for some classes they started offering in the high school under a few teachers who are credentialed to teach at community college. I never took those, and I would not recommend it for the most part, as there are other schools outside the state who specifically do not accept those classes taken under a high school teacher for college credit.  Also, if he has any idea what he would like to do, it might be good at some point in the program to gain admission and start taking classes at a college he would potentially want to finish at after high school. They will transfer more readily that way, and you might even get to have some classes in the major. He can take any class he is eligible for (my original school said we needed to take things that fit into the high school curriculum, but this is specifically not allowed anymore statewide). If I had known that then, I would have definitely taken some more specialized courses that I could not CLEP, and fewer classes that ended up being "gen-eds" which do not apply to my more specialized major now.

Anyway, if you have any more questions, feel free to shoot me a message, but, to sum up, you should be quite alright transferring CCP credits as long as he takes them at a reputable college/university.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!
I don’t know a ton about it yet, as my son has not really been interested yet.  (He is finishing 8th grade).  I decided to put it on the back burner for now because honestly, 13-14 is kinda young to do college level work for most kids and that GPA could haunt you.  So now I am hoping we can start high school with this in mind.  He is most likely going to a Private school and they do have those dual-employed teachers teaching CCP classes at the high school.

[dfrecore]

So College Credit Plus is just Ohio's DE prograom (Dual Enrollment). Many, many states have similar programs, all called different things. It's just where high school (generally) kids can take college courses for free or cheap, and it generally applies both to you high school requirements, as well as giving you college credit. Different colleges have different policies on accepting the credit.

My son is taking 2 out-of-state free courses next term (his senior year) that will check off math and science for the year. We know LOTS of kids who do this all the time (very popular in the homeschool community, but also in states where it's free, lots of public school kids do it as well). One benefit is that in general, 1 semester of college = 1 year of high school. So it's a good way to open up the schedule for additional courses you want to take, or finish early, or just get free/cheap college credit and still be able to go into a college as a freshman (therefore being able to qualify for freshman scholarships).

AP is also extremely popular - it's free in some schools/states, full price in others (~$94 last year); my kid went to a school that not only paid 50% for the cost of any STEM exams, but also paid kids $100 if they passed them! Incentive to work hard at those exams for sure. Most colleges will take AP, plus you get an extra grade point for the course (the course is a high school course; the exam is college credit). Not all schools give credit for all scores, or for all exams; it really depends on your school/major as to how things will come in. But it certainly can't hurt to take the exams, as failing scores don't get reported to your college - there's really no downside.